"Ex-FEMA Director Brown Blames Others"
The AP's notoriously biased Lara Jakes Jordan strikes again, both with that headline and an over-the-top hit piece on kick-him-when-he's-down Mike Brown:
WASHINGTON - Former FEMA director Michael Brown blamed others for most government failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday, especially Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. He aggressively defended his own role.
It's funny how we never saw an AP headline reading "New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin Made Up Death Toll Out Of Thin Air" or "Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco Couldn't Make a Decision if Her Life and the Lives of Louisianans Depended On It." Or "The AP Fails to Report Katrina Aftermath With Anything Approaching Fairness or Objectivity."
Read the rest. It's typical AP bias and typical political braying from both sides of the aisle. Our media and political elites are snivelling jackasses.
My hope that we'll learn the right lessons from Katrina: On life support. And fading fast.
MORE: Hm. Here's an earlier version of the Lara Jakes Jordan story, or an earlier story about the same hearings. It ends...oddly:
Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., cautioned against too narrowly assigning blame."At the end of the day, I suspect that we'll find that government at all levels failed the people of Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama and the Gulf Coast," said Davis.
Davis pushed Brown on what he and the agency he led should have done to evacuate New Orleans, restore order in the city and improve communication among law enforcement agencies.
Brown said: "Those are not FEMA roles. FEMA doesn't evacuate communities. FEMA does not do law enforcement. FEMA does not do communications."
In part of his testimony, Brown pumped his hand up and down for emphasis.
That odd visual detail just seems entirely out of place. Jordan seems to be trying to create one of two mental images: That of Brown as an angry or irritated child, or that of Brown making an inappropriate gesture. Either way or neither way, it's an odd and jarring way to end the story.
(thanks to Chris)











